Straight Parents--Gay Kids

"Homosexuality is a sin that can be overcome" according to a book now
on sale at Wal-Mart.

The parents of many gay children beg to differ.

One mother, one father, both persons of faith, come to Good Shepherd
this Sunday at 9:45 am to describe their own spiritual journeys when
each of them came to realize they had a gay child.

As the Episcopal church begins to fashion a liturgy for the blessing
of same gender relationships, it is important to listen with respect
to the life experience of parents who are Christian and whose children
come to understand that they were gay.

Christian evangelicals argue that being gay is a "lifestyle".

But many faithful Christians whose children are gay know a different
and deeper truth: their children did not choose to become gay--they
discovered that they were gay. And that discovery was often painful.

Come listen to the parents of gay children and then begin to decide
for yourself whether being gay is a choice or a discovery.

In peace and faith,

Charles

Is God a She, a He or an It? Part Two

A woman I once knew was raped repeatedly by her father. Not
surprisingly she has spent the rest of her life trying to understand
why Christians persist in calling God their "Father". The word
"Father" brings no comfort to a victim of incest.

Another woman, who enjoyed a close and enduring relationship with her
own beloved "daddy," doesn't see the problem. The word "Father" brings
her immense comfort.

If God is mystery and unknowable, why does humanity need to attach any
gender to the name of God? Is it because the people of ancient Israel
were a deeply patriarchal culture? Is it because Jesus referred to God
as "Abba" or Daddy? Is it because the English language is heavily male
inflected?

What is wrong with referring to God in gender neutral language? Try it
in any well bred Episcopal church and see what happens.

The Rev. Dr Karl Weddle, our Rector Emeritus, continues with Part Two
of his discussion of why we might want to liberate the notion of God
from our concept of male authority. Not surprisingly the Episcopal
church continues to reflect on ways of referring to God without
engaging in the sterile debate of whether God is a She, a He or an It.
Come join us at 9:45 am, in the parish hall.

Yours in the spirit,

Charles

Praying with Ignatius of Loyola

Ignatius was a soldier who fought in battle, a priest who saved souls
and a leader who founded the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, as the
intellectual shock troops of the Catholic Church.

Ignatius helped teach two important approaches to prayer.

The first involved reading a story about Jesus and then imagining the
story in your own mind, the sights, the sounds, the colors, the
smells. By imagining the story you become part of the story in an
unusually intimate way.

The second involved remembering the events of your day with the aid of
Jesus. Where did you see the presence of God during your day, where
did you succeed in following the model of Jesus, where did you fail
and where do you ask God to help strengthen you?

This Sunday at 9:45 am, Rick Carter helps teach us how to pray, using
the model of Ignatius.

This is Lent and Lent is a good time to adopt ancient principles of
prayer to modern American realities. Come join us,

May the Spirit lead you to a meaningful life,

Charles

Centering Prayer at Good Shepherd This Sunday

Jesus prayed. A lot. His cycle of life seemed to involve prayer and
work, work and prayer. His followers were so impressed by his practice
they asked him to teach them how to pray. What we now call the Lord's
prayer was his simplified response.

But we know that Jesus prayed for hours, not minutes, at a time. And
it seems likely that when he prayed at length, he did so by a practice
that is now known as "Centering Prayer."

Centering prayer is a method of resting in God. It provides a way to
help us open ourselves to God and to allow God into our souls. The
practice of Centering Prayer is ancient and can be traced back in
Christian literature as early as Isaac and the Desert fathers in the
3d and 4th centuries.

This is the season of Lent. Lent is a time of preparation that
traditionally involves prayer. This Sunday at 9:45, June Goforth and
Rick Carter will teach us how to rest in God, using Centering Prayer.
Why not come? You might find that you deepen your relationship with
God. And isnt what this journey is really all about?

May we all come to know what it is to rest in the Spirit,

Charles

Is God a She, a He or an It?

Some years ago a woman told me that she could never believe in
Christianity because Christians referred to God only as "Father" or
"He'.

I asked why that bothered her. She said that as a child she had been
raped by her father. She could not worship anything called "Father".

I have told this story to other Christians who regard themselves as
traditionalists. While everyone is sympathetic to the child, not
everyone gets the woman's point. A common response is, in effect, to
just get over it. God the Father is part of the Christian faith.

The truth is that Christianity grew out of a male dominated society in
the Near Middle East 2000 years ago. Jesus referred to God as "Abba"
or "Daddy" in Aramaic. And many of us continue to call God "he" and
flinch when others call God "she" or "Mother God."

But does the mystery called God really have a gender? Or is God beyond
gender?

Union Theological Seminary in New York--one of the great non-
denominational seminaries in the western world-- requires its students
to refrain from calling God "Father".

And the Scottish Episcopal Church has recently begun to use a gender
neutral worship service that does not refer to God as male. In their
view God is a mystery beyond gender. Of, if you like, God is both male
and female.

Should we follow? Come to Good Shepherd and the World this Sunday at
9:45 am as the Rev. Dr Karl Weddle addresses the question of whether
God is Male or Female.

In peace,

Charles